Calais True Value Hardware store to reopen at former Shop ‘n Save> Couple regain footing after July 1996 fire, expand business to include sons

CALAIS — A fire that gutted a Calais couple’s hardware store last year did not destroy their determination to open another store.

Last week, Rocky and Jean Johnson, whose True Value Hardware business left an indelible mark on the area, purchased the 11,000-square-foot building on North Street that once housed a Shop ‘n Save Store. They plan to reopen in August.

The couple talked about their plans amid a cacophony of saws and hammers, and subcontractors waiting to speak with them.

Johnson said that in addition to the True Value hardware merchandise, the new store will handle a full line of sporting goods including guns and sport clothing.

Management of the business will change. The Johnsons said they would rent the building to their sons David and Norman who will run the store.

“David will be the operations manager, and Norman will be handling the plumbing and heating portion of the store,” Rocky Johnson said Monday. The couple said they intended to work in the store to help out their sons.

David Johnson said he expected to fill the entire 11,000 square feet with merchandise. “There will be a major paint shop. It’s a new concept of having a paint store within a store,” he said.

But the core departments also will be there, David Johnson said. “As we talked things over with our planner from True Value, we realized we are going to need all of the floor space,” he explained.

Jean Johnson said she was pleased that the family could go forward with their plans to reopen the store. The True Value store has been a landmark in the area since the Johnsons opened in the 1960s.

An advantage at the new site, Johnson said, was that all the merchandise would be on a single floor. The building that burned had three floors, and he said a lot of time was spent moving stock.

“If a customer wanted a bag of cement, we had to go down two floors to get it. When you’d get it up to the cash register, they might decide they wanted another bag,” he said.

The July 1996 fire destroyed the store and nine apartments and left 11 people homeless. Carl Wakefield, who was 14 years old at the time, was found guilty of setting it. Earlier this year, he was sentenced to the Maine Youth Center.

On the day of the fire a stunned Rocky Johnson said it was too soon to decide if the family would rebuild, but time and public response encouraged the couple to move forward. He said officials at True Value are also eager to see the store open.

At the former downtown store site, workmen have been busy removing brick and fire debris. Cleanup has been hampered by bad weather.

“We want it to look decent for the downtown area, and we will continue to work toward that end,” Rocky Johnson said. He said the land at the old site was for sale and he believed it would make a good downtown parking lot.